MAYOR BLOOMBERG DISCUSSES HOW KEY INVESTMENTS HAVE LED TO NEW MILESTONES FOR THE CITY’S WATERFRONT AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN WEEKLY RADIO ADDRESS

The following is the text of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s weekly radio address as prepared for delivery on 1010 WINS News Radio for Sunday, July 22, 2012.

“Good Morning. This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

“Even in the depths of the national recession, our City never stopped investing in our future. From creating new parks and pools to renovating old bridges and schools, we did not walk away from investments that are critical to the long-term health of the city. And now, we’re beginning to see more of those investments pay off. Last week, we reached two major milestones in our efforts to revitalize our waterfront, expand our transit system, and build unprecedented amounts of affordable housing.

“First, the East River ferry service we launched in 2011 hit the one million customer mark in just over a year of operation. When ferry service opened for business last summer, we projected around 400,000 riders annually. Well, we more than doubled that. We knew the ferry service would have a major impact on surrounding communities – and that’s just what we’ve seen. Neighborhoods along the East River are seeing new construction and new business openings, with proximity to the ferry being advertised as a draw for residents and businesses alike. That means more jobs, more customers for local businesses, and more revenues for the city to reinvest in essential services.

“All across the city we’ve focused on transforming our waterfronts – many of which were long neglected – by creating beautiful parks and greenways, building new transportation infrastructure, and rezoning to better meet community needs. The success of the ferry service is just the latest evidence of how that strategy is paying off.

“This week, we also reached a new milestone in the largest affordable housing plan undertaken by any city in the nation’s history: we’ve built or preserved 141,000 units around the city, which brings us 85 percent of the way to our goal of creating 165,000 units of affordable housing. The plan was extremely ambitious – but we knew it had to be to meet the great need for affordable housing in our city.

“We also knew that our investment would have a ripple effect that would bring jobs, opportunity, and economic vitality to neighborhoods that needed them most. That’s just what happened: our investment in those units has created 125,000 jobs in construction and related fields – we expect that number to hit 150,000 before the plan is complete. And guaranteed affordability has given hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers spending power to put back into local businesses.

“We were committed to investing in both affordable housing and the waterfront long before the first storm clouds appeared on the economic horizon. And we maintained that commitment through the darkest days of the recession. Today, those investments are continuing to make our city a great place to live and work.